Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for installing one or more cylindrical longitudinally extending elements on a panel, for example electrical wires and/or electrical cables and/or sheathing of the said wires or cables on a vehicle panel. More specifically, this invention relates to a device designed to bind and clamp together a plurality of wires or cables and to position and maintain the latter in a defined position on this panel. The present invention also relates to a tool for mounting such a device on a bundle of electrical wires or cables or on one or more longitudinally extending elements.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The documents U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,613 or GM 94 01 448 for example describe a device in the form of a harness that can be wound transversely around cables to be combined, and one end of which is designed so that it can engage in a coupling head provided in the other end. This head comprises an internal coupling tongue that engages in a notch in a series of notches provided in the free end of the harness so as to ensure a clamping of the cables or bundle of electrical wires irrespective of their diameter. This harness also includes, at the head or in the proximity thereof, a fastening means shaped so as to be able to be inserted and engage in an opening previously provided in the panel, thereby securing the harness and the bundle to the said panel.
However, the installation of a plurality of such harnesses at regular intervals along a bundle is complicated and time-consuming. Furthermore, it is normally recommended to cut the surplus end of the harness projecting beyond the coupling head, which on the one hand means wasting unused material, and on the other hand runs the risk of leaving sharp exposed edges on the new end. In addition, it is time-consuming to cut off the unused material and also involves the use of cutting tools in a workshop.
Documents U.S. Pat. No. 5,189,766, U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,675 or EP 0 433 621 for example also describe U-shaped retainer type cable installation devices that envelop the cables and in which the ends of each arm terminate in a hook. The hooks are designed so as to engage in a pair of openings or windows previously made in the panel. The retainer according to document EP 433 621 has a plurality of coupling notches on each of the arms, enabling a plurality of electrical wires or cables of different diameters to be clamped.
However, the use of these cable retainers is also complicated by the fact that it is advisable to keep the bundle of cables clamped against the panel between the two windows before the said retainers can be installed. Moreover, the dimensions of the openings or windows in the panel should be extremely accurate so as to permit on the one hand a smooth engagement of each arm end hook during the installation, and on the other hand ensure a reliable permanent retention of these hooks. In addition this type of device can only be installed when the panel is present since it is impossible to run the cable bundle through when the retainers are in place.
Besides, it is found that the securement of these devices on a panel is often unsatisfactory since it leads to a certain amount of undesirable play, particularly in the longitudinal direction of the wires, which means that the general positioning of the bundle may become imprecise as a result of subsequent vibrations.
The object of the present invention is an installation device that is easier to mount on electrical wires or electrical cables, or even on a sheathing of the said wires or cables with the possibility of clamping the latter, and that is also easier to secure on a panel and will remain securely and reliably in place over the course of time. In addition the installation device should be able to be mounted on the cable bundles before being transported to an assembly line.
The structure of this device should also enable it to be mass produced so as to reduce production costs, in particular by pressure injection of plastics material into a mould.
As far as possible the design of this device should also permit its use and implementation by means of a tool actuated manually but also capable of being actuated pneumatically or electrically in order to improve ease of use, this being achieved by reducing material lost in cutting surplus material and thus in generating costly waste, and reducing the use of cutting tools in the workshop. The implementation time should thus be able to be reduced to a minimum.
These objects are achieved by virtue of the fact the installation device for installing one or more longitudinally extending elements on a panel comprises:
a U-shaped retainer, each flexible arm of which has a series of externally oriented notches,
and a base having, corresponding to each arm, an inclined traversing passage whose inlet opening is located in the face opposite the retainer and whose outlet opening is located in a lateral face of the base, the face of the base opposite to that facing the retainer being provided with a fastening means for securing the base in an opening in the panel.
One of the main advantages of the device is that the dimensions and positions of the inclined passages of the base are designed and manufactured accurately, which facilitates the insertion of the arms of the retainer. Moreover, these passages guide the ends of the arms in an inclined manner so that they come to rest against the panel at the edge of the opening, thereby assisting the seating of the device. The external orientation of the notches prevents any undesirable interference in the wires or cables in the vicinity of the coupling of the retainer in the base, and prevents any harmful contact on the panel after the fastening means has been inserted into the opening.
Preferably, the retainer is initially joined to the base by means of weak rupture points.
The device may thus be produced and marketed in one piece, which facilitates its manufacture, intermediate storage and handling up to its use at the time of installation of a cable on a panel.
The inlet opening of each passage of the base preferably has a retention hook for the notch of the corresponding arm of the retainer.
The coupling of the retainer thus takes place in a very controlled manner in the region of the face opposite the base, and not in the region of the lateral face where it could all too easily become dislodged, for example as the result of rubbing of the arm against the panel. This significantly improves the long-term reliability of the installation device.
Preferably the retainer has on each side of the longitudinally extending element to be installed a pair of arms with notches oriented externally in the direction of the said longitudinally extending elements.
By virtue of the orientation of the notches in the longitudinal direction of the wires or cables to be held, the risk of interference of the latter with the coupling of the arms of the retainer in the base is reduced still further. In addition, the ends of the arms that come into contact with the panel produce a particularly stable, four-point seating for the overall device.
If desired, the fastening means may be engaged in a detachable manner in the base.
The fastening means for securing the base in an opening in the panel is conveniently in the form of a central pin provided with slanting tongues oriented towards the base. These tongues may be distributed in the form of several, preferably three or four, longitudinal series distributed uniformly around the periphery of the pin. Alternatively, each tongue may completely surround the pin.
This type of fastening means can easily engage in an opening provided in the panel whose diameter is greater than that of the pin, the width of the tongues ensuring a reliable coupling. The plurality of tongues enables any imprecisions of positioning, either of the device on the bundle or of the openings in the panel, to be corrected. This type of fastening also compensates for any variation in thickness of the panel.
The base conveniently comprises, at its fastening junction, an elastic skirt curved in the direction of the fastening.
This skirt ensures that each of the tongues engaged behind the panel is properly tensioned in order thereby to hold the device firmly against the said panel.
A tool specially designed for mounting an installation device according to the invention on one or more longitudinally extending elements, such as a bundle of electrical cables or wires, may comprise:
a magazine enabling a plurality of devices to be stored,
a transporting frame capable of being displaced by a first actuating device from a first position at the outlet of the magazine in order to transport the base of a device to a second position so as to bring the said device into the plane of a recess provided in the front edge of the tool, where the retainer of the said device is held in a manipulating unit situated at a first height, followed by return,
a second actuating device enabling the operating unit to be raised perpendicularly to the base to a second height in order to separate the retainer from the base, then, once the longitudinally extending element or elements are present above the base in the front recess, enabling the operating unit to be lowered to a third height in order to insert the arms of the retainer above the longitudinally extending elements into their corresponding base passage, and then enabling the operating unit to be raised again to the first height in order to withdraw the base of the device from the transporting frame, the said device then being able to be disengaged from the operating unit.
On account of the fact that the installation device may be initially manufactured and manipulated in one piece, it is accordingly possible to envisage in practice a tool enabling this device to be arranged more easily above a bundle, and by employing electric, hydraulic, but preferably pneumatic power-driven actuating devices, to attach and secure this device without effort to the said bundle.
Advantageously, the first actuating device is a single-chamber pneumatic linear jack with a spring urging the piston at rest to a position corresponding to a reduction of the chamber and bringing the transporting frame integral with the end of the piston rod into its first position. This type of twin-position jack with return spring is found to be reliable in practice.
Advantageously, the second actuating device is a single-chamber pneumatic linear jack with a spring urging the piston at rest into a high position corresponding to a reduction of the chamber and bringing the operating unit integral with the end of the piston rod into a second position, this unit being held initially in the first position against the force of the spring by an electromechanical, magnetic, pneumatic or mechanical catch.
Thus, by virtue of the addition of a simple electromechanical jack, a reliable displacement of the manipulating unit into three different positions is ensured by means of a twin-position pneumatic jack with a return spring, which arrangement is recognised as being reliable.
Advantageously, the transporting frame is mounted on the end of the actuating device rod by means of a rotation pivot, and the duct within which the transporting frame is displaced has, starting from the magazine, a wide first part terminating in a lug that imparts to the frame containing a device, a rotation of a quarter of a turn, followed by a second part to guide the end of the rotation, which in turn is followed by a third channel for guiding the frame to the plane of the recess of the front face of the tool.
This arrangement enables the capacity of the magazine to be optimised by storing the installation devices side by side along a line perpendicular to their harness plane. Thus, by executing a quarter of a turn the transporting frame brings the device, by orienting its harness, into the plane of the recess of the tool.
According to a modification, the magazine opens out perpendicularly to the duct, where an installation device is gripped parallel to the plane of its retainer by the transporting frame and is displaced towards the recess by sliding movement of the transporting frame and of the device inside the duct. In this embodiment of the tool, the installation device executes a first translation in the magazine perpendicularly to the plane of its retainer, followed by a second translation in the duct parallel to the plane of the retainer.
Advantageously, the outlet opening of the magazine is provided with two oppositely facing electromechanical, magnetic, pneumatic or mechanical catches that engage in recesses of side faces of the device base so as to retain that device situated at the level of this opening when the transporting frame is outside its first position.
The release at a suitable moment of an installation device to the transporting frame as soon as it becomes empty can thus be controlled by simple electronic means or mechanical displacements.
Conveniently, the base of the recess of the tool is of convex triangular shape, the base of a device being brought to and positioned at the apex of the triangle by the transporting frame.
These inclined base faces of the recess effectively guide the harness branch ends projecting from the base outlet openings so as to assist their device seating function.